Shadows Over Avignon

In 1347, Avignon is a city of ambition and anxiety, its skyline dominated by the Pope's new palace and the threat of the Black Death creeping ever closer. Eleanore, a young herbalist and midwife, walks the woods outside the city, gathering herbs and wrestling with her own sense of belonging. Her twin sister Margot is preparing to marry Erec, a wealthy merchant's son, while Eleanore feels the weight of her late mother's legacy as a healer. The city's social tensions simmer beneath the surface, and Eleanore's connection to the natural world sets her apart, even as she longs for acceptance and purpose.

Sisters and Secrets

Eleanore and Margot's relationship is both intimate and fraught, shaped by their mother's death and the divergent paths their lives are taking. Margot seeks security and love in her engagement to Erec, while Eleanore is drawn to the healing arts and the independence it offers. Their father, a papal notary, is supportive but burdened by grief and physical pain. The sisters' differences are highlighted by their responses to love, duty, and the expectations of womanhood, and their shared history is both a comfort and a source of unresolved pain.

The Wolf in the Woods

Eleanore's encounter with a trapped, half-wild dog in the woods becomes a metaphor for her own sense of being caught between worlds. She risks herself to free the animal, naming him Baldoin, and in doing so, confronts her own fears and the legacy of her mother's compassion. The dog's tentative trust mirrors Eleanore's struggle to find her place in a society that both needs and fears women like her—skilled, independent, and connected to forces beyond the ordinary.

The Healer's Burden

As rumors of plague spread from the East, Eleanore is drawn into the city's growing crisis. She is called to treat Mathilde, Erec's mother and her own mother's former friend turned enemy, whose illness is both physical and psychological. Eleanore's skill is tested as she cleans and sutures a festering wound, confronting the limits of her knowledge and the weight of past betrayals. The city's fear grows, and Eleanore's role as a healer becomes both a calling and a danger.

Plague at the Gates

The first cases of plague appear in Avignon, and panic spreads faster than the disease. Eleanore and Guigo (Guy de Chauliac), the Pope's physician, work together to treat the sick and understand the mysterious illness. The city's social fabric begins to unravel as fear turns to suspicion and violence, especially against Jews and women healers. Eleanore's skills are in demand, but her independence and knowledge make her a target for those seeking scapegoats.

The Pope's Physician

Eleanore apprentices herself to Guigo, learning anatomy and medicine in a world where women are forbidden from formal study. Together, they dissect plague victims, seeking understanding in the face of overwhelming death. Their work is both groundbreaking and dangerous, as the Church's ban on human dissection is only temporarily lifted. Eleanore's growing expertise sets her apart, but also places her in the crosshairs of those who fear change and female power.

Divided Loyalties

The plague exposes the fault lines in Eleanore's relationships—with Margot, whose engagement to Erec collapses under the weight of family tragedy and social upheaval; with Erec himself, who is drawn into the city's rising tide of fanaticism; and with David, a Jewish apprentice physician who becomes both a friend and a forbidden love. Eleanore must navigate the dangers of intimacy in a world where love can be as deadly as disease.

The Queen's Arrival

Queen Joanna of Naples arrives in Avignon, seeking papal support and sanctuary from political enemies. Eleanore is appointed as her midwife, thrust into the heart of court intrigue and the struggle for female agency. The queen's pregnancy becomes a symbol of hope and vulnerability, and Eleanore's role as healer and confidante is both an honor and a burden. The city's elite are not immune to the plague, and the boundaries between privilege and peril blur.

Death's Dominion

The Black Death claims thousands, sparing neither rich nor poor. Eleanore and Guigo work tirelessly, developing new treatments and training others, but the limits of medicine are starkly revealed. The city's cemeteries overflow, and mass graves become the norm. The psychological toll is immense, as survivors grapple with grief, guilt, and the collapse of social order. Eleanore's own family is not spared, and the bonds of love and loyalty are tested to the breaking point.

The Mob Awakens

As the death toll mounts, fear turns to rage. Father Loup, a fanatical priest, incites the populace against Jews and "witches," blaming them for the plague. Eleanore's healing skills and independence make her a target, and the city's fragile order gives way to mob violence. The lines between justice and vengeance blur, and Eleanore must confront the dangers of being a woman who knows too much in a world desperate for someone to blame.

Anatomy of Survival

Eleanore and Guigo's work in dissection and treatment offers hope, but also provokes suspicion and backlash. The tension between empirical knowledge and religious dogma comes to a head, as the Church both relies on and fears the power of healers. Eleanore's identity as a woman, a healer, and a potential "witch" becomes a crucible in which her fate—and the fate of those she loves—is forged.

The Price of Knowledge

Eleanore is accused of witchcraft and necromancy, betrayed by those she once trusted. Imprisoned and facing execution, she is forced to rely on the loyalty and courage of friends old and new. Margot, her beloved sister, makes the ultimate sacrifice to save Eleanore, taking her place at the stake. The cost of knowledge and independence is revealed in the most personal and devastating terms.

Love and Exile

Eleanore escapes Avignon with the help of Paolo, Guigo, and others, but the price is unbearable: Margot's death. Grief and guilt threaten to consume her, but the promise of love and healing remains. Eleanore and David, both exiles from their communities, find each other again and set sail for a new life in Granada, where hope and possibility flicker on the horizon.

The Witch's Trial

Eleanore's trial is a spectacle of fear and ignorance, orchestrated by Father Loup and fueled by the city's need for a scapegoat. Evidence of her healing is twisted into proof of sorcery, and the mob's verdict is predetermined. The trial exposes the dangers faced by women who challenge the status quo, and the thin line between healer and heretic.

Sacrifice and Salvation

Margot's decision to take Eleanore's place at the stake is the ultimate act of love and agency. Her sacrifice is both a condemnation of the world's cruelty and a testament to the power of sisterhood. Eleanore's survival is made possible by Margot's courage, and the loss reshapes her understanding of love, duty, and the meaning of home.

The World Remade

The plague recedes, but the world is forever changed. Eleanore, marked by loss and resilience, must find a new path in a landscape scarred by death and fear. The bonds of family, friendship, and love endure, even as old certainties crumble. The story ends with a sense of hard-won hope, as Eleanore and David look toward a future shaped by memory, loss, and the possibility of healing.

The Last Gasp of Hope

As Eleanore and David sail toward Granada, the promise of a new life is tempered by the weight of all that has been lost. The lessons of the plague—about fear, love, knowledge, and sacrifice—linger, shaping the survivors' understanding of themselves and the world. The story closes with a vision of resilience and the enduring power of hope, even in the face of unimaginable suffering.

Characters

Eleanore Blanchet

Eleanore is the novel's protagonist, a young woman shaped by loss, gifted in healing, and caught between worlds. Her mother's death leaves her with both a legacy and a burden: the knowledge of herbs, midwifery, and the power—and danger—of female independence. Eleanore's relationships are defined by loyalty, compassion, and a fierce sense of justice, but also by the loneliness of being different. Her journey is one of self-discovery, as she navigates love, betrayal, and the ever-present threat of violence in a world that both needs and fears women like her. Her psychological depth is revealed in her longing for connection, her struggle with grief and guilt, and her ultimate resilience in the face of overwhelming loss.

Margot Blanchet

Margot is Eleanore's twin sister, her mirror and her opposite. Where Eleanore is independent and unconventional, Margot seeks security and belonging. Her love for Erec is both a source of hope and heartbreak, and her relationship with Eleanore is the emotional core of the novel. Margot's ultimate sacrifice—taking Eleanore's place at the stake—reveals the depth of her love and the tragedy of a world that punishes women for their strength and loyalty. Her psychological journey is one of longing, loss, and the final, redemptive act of agency.

Guigo (Guy de Chauliac)

Guigo is the Pope's physician, a self-made man whose brilliance and compassion make him both a leader and a target. He becomes Eleanore's mentor, teaching her anatomy and medicine in defiance of social norms. Guigo's pragmatism and humor balance the darkness of the plague, and his willingness to risk his reputation for knowledge and healing marks him as a true pioneer. His relationship with Eleanore is paternal, collegial, and deeply respectful, and his survival is a testament to the power of science and empathy.

Margot's and Eleanore's Father

The twins' father is a papal notary, a man marked by physical pain and emotional loss. His love for his daughters is evident, but he is also constrained by the expectations of his time. His death from the plague is a turning point, forcing Eleanore and Margot to confront the world without the protection of family or tradition.

Erec Dupont

Erec is Margot's fiancé, a man whose love is ultimately undone by fear and fanaticism. His transformation from beloved to betrayer mirrors the city's descent into hysteria, and his inability to resist the pull of the mob is both a personal and societal tragedy. Erec's psychological arc is one of weakness, longing, and the corrosive power of hate.

Mathilde Dupont

Mathilde is Erec's mother and the Blanchet twins' mother's former friend. Her illness and madness are both literal and symbolic, representing the dangers faced by women who transgress social boundaries. Her death and subsequent dissection become a flashpoint for accusations of witchcraft and the dangers of knowledge.

David Farissol

David is a young Jewish physician whose relationship with Eleanore is both a source of hope and a reminder of the world's divisions. His survival of the plague, thanks to Eleanore and Guigo's intervention, is a rare victory, and his offer of a new life in Granada represents the possibility of healing and acceptance. David's psychological depth lies in his resilience, his longing for connection, and his understanding of the costs of difference.

Queen Joanna of Naples

Joanna is both a political force and a woman beset by danger. Her pregnancy and trial in Avignon are central to the novel's exploration of gender, power, and survival. Her relationship with Eleanore is complex—by turns warm, demanding, and transactional—and her fate is a reminder of the precariousness of women's lives, even at the highest levels of society.

Father Loup

Father Loup is the novel's antagonist, a man whose religious zeal masks a deep-seated need for control and scapegoating. He incites violence against Jews and women, orchestrates Eleanore's trial, and represents the dangers of unchecked authority and superstition. His psychological makeup is defined by rigidity, paranoia, and a willingness to destroy in the name of purity.

Paolo di Rosa

Paolo is a member of Queen Joanna's court, a confidant to Eleanore, and a symbol of the possibility of friendship and acceptance across boundaries. His sexuality and outsider status make him both vulnerable and wise, and his role in Eleanore's escape is a testament to the power of solidarity and compassion.

Plot Devices

Duality and Doubling

The novel uses the motif of twins—Eleanore and Margot—to explore themes of identity, sacrifice, and the tension between conformity and independence. The doubling of healer/witch, love/hate, science/superstition, and Christian/Jewish identities creates a rich tapestry of contrasts that drive the narrative and deepen the psychological stakes.

The Plague as Catalyst

The Black Death is not just a backdrop but an active agent in the story, exposing the fragility of social order, the limits of knowledge, and the dangers of fear. The plague accelerates personal and societal transformations, forcing characters to confront mortality, meaning, and the costs of survival.

Knowledge and Power

The pursuit of medical knowledge—through dissection, experimentation, and apprenticeship—is both a source of hope and a trigger for suspicion and violence. The novel interrogates who is allowed to know, who is allowed to heal, and the dangers faced by those who challenge the status quo, especially women.

Scapegoating and Mob Mentality

The narrative uses the rise of mob violence, incited by Father Loup, to explore how societies seek scapegoats in times of crisis. The targeting of Jews and women healers is both historically grounded and psychologically acute, revealing the mechanisms by which fear is weaponized.

Sacrifice and Redemption

The motif of sacrifice—most powerfully embodied in Margot's decision to take Eleanore's place at the stake—underscores the novel's exploration of love, agency, and the meaning of home. Redemption is hard-won and incomplete, but the possibility of healing endures.

Epistolary and Dream Sequences

The use of letters, dreams, and visions allows the narrative to bridge distances—between the living and the dead, between past and future, between hope and despair. These devices deepen the psychological realism and offer moments of grace amid the darkness.

Analysis

Eleanore of Avignon is a sweeping, psychologically rich historical novel that uses the devastation of the Black Death as a lens to examine the enduring questions of fear, knowledge, gender, and belonging. At its heart is the story of a woman healer whose gifts are both her salvation and her curse, and whose journey from outsider to survivor is marked by love, loss, and the relentless pursuit of meaning in a world undone by catastrophe. The novel's modern resonance lies in its exploration of how societies respond to crisis—by seeking scapegoats, clinging to superstition, or daring to imagine new ways of living. Eleanore's story is a testament to the power of resilience, the costs of courage, and the enduring hope that, even after the darkest night, we may once more see the stars.

Last updated: July 27, 2025